E Learning Bootcamp Introduction

1.
eLearning
Rick McKinnon, Ph.D.
Supported by the WIRED grant from the State of Washington
1

2.
How do you feel about
elearning?
1. All hat and no cowboy?
2. A necessary evil?
3. A valuable complement to f2f teaching?
4. Undecided?

3.
eLearning
advantages disadvantages
• Students can access info • Students don’t know how
On their own schedule to access classroom
• Mobile access to content • No opportunity for f2f
questions
• Time to think and respond
• Time consuming to
• Accommodates a wide prepare
range of learning styles
• Too much information
• Unverified information

4.
Something is broken
Slide from: Diplomas Count 2008: School to College, Education Week, 6/508.
As presently configured, our schools produce a
failure rate (30% not graduating high school)
that would be intolerable if it were found in any
other field. 4

9.
Rule: If a card has a “D” on one side,
then it must have a “3” on the other.
Abstract:
Hard!
Rule: If an individual is over 21, then
that person can drink a beverage
with that contains alcohol.
Social: Easy!
Ref.: Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. Neurocognitive Adaptations Designed for Social Exchange. In D. M. Buss (Ed.),
Evolutionary Psychology Handbook. NY: Wiley. 9

10.
The web,
Weinberger writes,
"is enabling us to
rediscover what
we've always known
about being human:
we are connected
creatures in a
connected world
about which we care
passionately."
10

11.
Humans, as well as
other primates tend
to suppress certain
behaviors under
conditions of acute
crowding.
This is referred to as the
“Elevator Effect” by social
psychologists, and is an
adaptive mechanism for
reducing the likelihood of
conflict.
11
Ref: de Waal, F., Aureli, F., & Judge, P. Coping with Crowding. Scientific American, 5/00

13.
Free range learners
Free-range learners choose
how and what they learn. Self-
service is less expensive and
more timely than the
alternative. Informal learning
has no need for the busywork
and bureaucracy that
accompany typical educational
practices. Less is more.
13